Cornyn: 'We're not going to default'

By Joe Holley |
January 17, 2013
| Updated: January 17, 2013 11:25pm

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip, said Thursday in Houston that Congress will not allow an impasse over raising the debt ceiling to result in the federal government defaulting on its spending obligations.

Cornyn's fellow Republicans, particularly in the House, have been trying to use the issue of the debt ceiling to force President Barack Obama to agree to spending cuts.

Obama has said he will not negotiate on the debt ceiling. He has insisted that if Congress refuses to raise the debt limit, the nation will default on its spending obligations, including veterans benefits and Social Security payments.

“I will tell you unequivocally, we're not going to default,” Cornyn said Thursday.

House Republicans, meanwhile, meeting at an annual retreat in Williamsburg, Va., told reporters they are considering a plan to raise the legal borrowing limit for just a few months, postponing the debt-ceiling debate until March.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., expressed a willingness to consider a plan that would allow the White House to prioritize spending in case the borrowing limit is not raised.

Cornyn said that paying bills on a pro rata basis or delaying payment on some bills until the debt ceiling issue is resolved may be possible, “but my hope would be that we would not even go there.”

In an opinion piece in the Chronicle last week, Cornyn wrote that shutting down parts of government may be necessary if the White House and Congress cannot agree on a deal to slash spending.

“It may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well-being of our country, rather than plod along the path of Greece, Italy and Spain,” he wrote. “President Obama needs to take note of this reality and put forward a plan to avoid it immediately.”

The senator did not provide details, either in the article or in his interview with the editorial board, about what areas of the government might be shuttered or for how long. He frequently has said, however, that Republicans should use the debt ceiling and the forthcoming debate over the continuing resolution necessary to finance government as leverage to cut spending on entitlement programs.

“Technically, he's right,” said University of Houston political scientist Jim Granato. “We can pay for 60 percent of what we're spending, which means we wouldn't default. The rest is just a huge dogfight, with 40 percent of our spending obligations not met.”

Granato also noted that if the debt ceiling is breached, the federal government will not default on paying interest on the debt, Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid benefits, but after that the Treasury Department takes over and Obama gets to decide who gets paid and when.

Cornyn, asked whether his statement Thursday represented a change of position from the views expressed in the op-ed, said the article represented something of a negotiating ploy.

“You sometimes try to inject a little doubt in your negotiating partner about where you're going to go, but I would tell you unequivocally that we're not going to default,” he said.